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Home > Newsletter > Newsletter Archive > Fall Issue 2001 Health Matters
for Women™
Our First Issue Welcome to the first issue of Health Matters for Women™, a new publication of the office of Women’s Health of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. We hope to show you how preventive health really matters for women — and also the truly broad range of issues that are "women’s health." Smoking Is a Women's Issue Public and private health must come together with women's groups and individuals to combat the epidemic of smoking among U.S. women, says the surgeon general's new report on women and smoking. "Women and Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General-2001" reviews a massive body of evidence and reports that the epidemic has become full-blown. The decline in smoking among adult women has slowed, and tobacco use among teens increased sharply in the 1990s. In 1998, 22 percent of adult women and 30 percent of high school senior girls smoked. More women died of lung cancer in 2000 than of cancers of the breast, uterus and ovary combined. Since 1980,3 million U.S. women have died early because of smoking. In addition to death from heart disease and lung and other cancers, "Women face unique health consequences, including pregnancy complications, problems with menstrual function and cervical cancer," said U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher. "The single overarching theme emerging from this report is that smoking is a women's issue," the report says. The report recommends anti-tobacco media campaigns, higher tobacco prices, more nonsmoking public places, curbs on advertising, enforced legislation to restrict youth access and effective treatment programs. "Combating smoking and the forces that promote it deserves to be among our very highest priorities for women's health," said CDC Director Jeffrey P. Koplan, M.D., M.P.H. Some of the report's recommendations:
Fighting the Myths About Tobacco - A Community Toolkit for Reducing Tobacco Use Among Women. This new kit includes tips on quitting and community strategies to reduce smoking among women. Call 770-488-5705, ext. 3, for a copy. Tobacco Control - California Proves It Works California has been in the vanguard of tobacco control since 1988, when voters established the California Tobacco Control Program with Proposition 99. Since then:
The California program enlisted local health departments, community groups and volunteers to work with trained public health workers and entered a David v. Goliath battle with the tobacco industry. Its goal: to create "a social milieu and legal climate in which tobacco becomes less desirable, less acceptable and less accessible," according to a California Department of Health Services report. Some of the elements of California's program:
Find out more at www.dhs.ca.gov/tobacco/ and www.cdc.gov/tobacco/stat-nat-data.htm TIPS for Smoking and Health Resources CDC's TIPS - Tobacco Information and Prevention Source - Web pages are a gateway to explore smoking, its health consequences, antismoking programs and how to quit.
Visit TIPS at www.cdc.gov/tobacco/. Legal Support Grows for Fighting Cancers Twenty years ago, only one state required insurers to reimburse women for mammograms. By May 2000, every state but one had passed laws mandating that HMOs and health insurance companies cover the breast cancer screenings. And more than 20 states now require insurers to cover cervical cancer screening, up from just one in 1984. Legislation is an important public health tool in the fights against cervical and breast cancer, and CDC's cancer prevention program has summarized the evolution and status of state laws that affect preventing and treating the diseases. "State and Federal Laws Relating to Cervical Cancer" covers 1977 to 2000, and "State Laws Relating to Breast Cancer" looks at changes in state laws from 1949 until 2000. Tubal Sterilization Does Not Cause Menstrual Problems Researchers found no tie between tubal sterilization and menstrual problems such as increased pain and bleeding. It had long been speculated that the widely used tubal ligation, which has been performed on more than 10 million women in the United States alone, caused such problems. The findings come from the CDC reproductive health program's Collaborative Review of Sterilization, the largest and longest study of women and tubal sterilization, following 11,000 women from 1978 to 1994. Find Q&As at www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/drh/wh_sterilization_Q&A.htm. Mapping Heart Disease in Women The second edition of Women and Heart Disease: An Atlas of Racial and Ethnic Disparities corrects and updates the first edition and is now available from CDC's cardiovascular health program. The 200 national and state maps highlight the geographic, racial and ethnic inequalities in heart disease among women and can guide heart-healthy programs and policies for women who carry the greatest burden of heart disease. See the report, including interactive maps, at http://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/library/maps/cvdatlas/atlas_womens/ womens_download.htm. Request a copy at ccdinfo@cdc.gov, 888-232-2306, or National Center for Chronic Disease and Health Promotion Heart Disease Atlas Project, Division of Adult and Community Health, MS K-47, 4770 Buford Highway, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724. Looking for Answers to Ovarian Questions It will kill 14,000 women this year, twice as many as cervical cancer. This deadliest of gynecologic cancers kills half the women it affects because so few cases are detected early. Yet there are more questions than answers about ovarian cancer, and no screening tests have proven effective in reducing mortality. CDC's cancer prevention program is supporting three new activities to begin answering some of the tough questions about the disease:
CDC's cancer prevention program convened a meeting in 2000 to help direct new funding from Congress for ovarian cancer public health needs. The new programs address issues identified at the workshop and build on ongoing work. For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/cancer/ovarian/. Law Helps Treat Breast, Cervical Cancer For the past decade, CDC has provided free breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income and uninsured women. Now a law will provide funds to help treat women these screening identify with cancer. The Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000 lets states use Medicaid to pay to treat uninsured women under 65 whose breast or cervical cancer was found through CDC's National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Treatment includes pre-cancerous conditions and early-stage cancer. Established in 1990,the program has provided screenings to more than 1.9 million women. In the past 10 years, it has diagnosed more than 9,000 women with breast cancer and more than 700 with invasive cervical cancer. For more about the law, visit www.cdc.gov/cancer/NBCCEDP/law106-354.htm or call CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at 770-488-4226. Call 800-4-CANCER to find a free or low-cost mammogram or Pap smear site in your area. Getting Girls to Think Bone Health Girls who eat more foods with calcium and participate in weight- bearing physical activities develop stronger, denser bones. And girls associate strong bones with being powerful inside and out. The National Bone Health Campaign, "Powerful Bones, Powerful Girls," kicked off in September in Washington, D.C. Its goal: to promote bone health in girls 9 to 12 years old so they can reduce their risk of osteoporosis by developing healthy habits now. The integrated social marketing and communication campaign includes radio and print advertising, Radio Disney's Live World Tour 2001, http://www.cdc.gov/powerfulbones/, a calendar with stickers girls use to track their calcium intake and physical activity, and a collaboration with Girl Scouts of the USA and state health departments. The campaign is sponsored by the Office on Women's Health of the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC, and the National Osteoporosis Foundation. CDC Creates Center on Birth Defects, Developmental Disabilities A new center at CDC will become a national leader in collecting, analyzing and disseminating information on birth defects and developmental disabilities. The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) was authorized under the Children's Health Act of 2000. The NCBDDD's focus is preventing birth defects and developmental disabilities for which prevention is now possible; finding causes of conditions without known prevention strategies; and improving the health and wellness of people living with disability. Current prevention efforts include:
Jose F. Cordero, MD, MPH, is director of the new center. He brings extensive public health experience in the field of birth defects and developmental disabilities, including more than 15 years in CDC's birth defects branch. Most recently, he was deputy director of CDC's immunization program. Visit NCBDDD at www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/ or call 770-488-7150. Girl Smokers - Stop Them From Starting Much of the progress to reduce smoking rates among girls in the 1970s and 1980s was lost in the 1990s, when more girls started smoking. "To reduce the number of women who smoke in this country, we must first prevent our teenagers and young women from picking up the habit," said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson. "We must be aggressive in educating them that smoking is very addictive, harmful and lethal." "These young women must know that once they start, it will be very difficult to stop," Thompson said.. "Society must not glorify smoking." Some factors associated with girls who smoke: a desire to control weight; rebelliousness; having parents or peers who smoke; and a positive image of smokers. Model Nonsmoker: Cover model Christy Turlington lends her celebrity to a CDC campaign to show the beauty of not smoking. For example, she dispels the notion that smoking helps girls stay thin. "There are plenty of fat smokers," she says. For free posters and other materials from the campaign, visit www.cdc.gov/tobacco/christy. "It's easier not to start than it is to stop." – model Christy Turlington
Prevention WORKS to Prevent Colorectal Cancer The problem — and a good way to prevent it — are clear: colorectal cancer is a killer of women and men, but regular screenings save lives. Screening is the best way to find colorectal polyps before they become cancerous. Removing these can actually prevent cancer of the colon or rectum years before it develops. Screening can also find colorectal cancer early, when treatment can be most effective. More than a third of deaths from colorectal cancer would be avoided if all people over 50 had regular tests. When colorectal cancer is found early, death rates are low: only about 10 percent of patients will die within five years. Once the disease has begun to spread, about 35 percent of patients will die within five years. When the cancer has progressed further before it is diagnosed, 92 percent of patients will die within five years. But only 37 percent of colorectal cancers are diagnosed before they begin to spread. And although the tests are very effective, only 44 percent of adults 50 or older have been screened recently for colorectal cancer. That means
that more health professionals and individuals need to know about colorectal
cancer and the tests that can prevent or find it early. CDC’s cancer
prevention program supports the "Screen for Life" national action campaign.
Go to The Facts About Colorectal Cancer
Encourage women and men 50 and older to have regular screenings for colorectal cancer. Health leaders recommend an annual fecal occult blood test and periodic sigmoidoscopy, total colonic exam, colonoscopy or barium enema. See http://www.cdc.gov/colorectal/basic_info/screening/ or more details about screening recommendations. Focus on preventing colorectal cancer:
"Colorectal cancer is one cancer where regular screening clearly has benefits. Screening saves lives." - James S. Marks, MD, Director, CDC National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Heart Attacks Up Among Young Women Sudden cardiac deaths among women under age 35 are increasing at an alarming rate, according to CDC research presented at the American Heart Association’s 41st annual conference. While the number of people aged 15 to 34 dying from heart attacks remains small — an estimated total of 3,000 in 1996 — the rate of death among young women rose 30 percent between 1989 and 1996. CDC researchers said the increases could result from smoking, poor diets and less active lifestyles. They recommended educating young women about the warning signs of heart distress so they can get help quickly in case of cardiac arrest. Read more at www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/r010301.htm. Protecting Women at Work Women, who make up almost half of the U.S. workforce, face special health concerns on the job. Women are more likely to suffer sprains, strains, carpal tunnel and other musculoskeletal problems, for example, and the amount of work stress they experience may be nearly twice that of men. CDC's workplace safety and health program, which has helped make U.S. workplaces safer, is taking a close look at some of these hazards, especially in careers heavily populated by women. Ninety-two percent of U.S. nurses and nursing aides are women. CDC is developing software to track needlestick injuries and studying how to prevent latex allergies and control infectious diseases among healthcare workers. One study with the National Cancer Institute is looking at cancer rates and reproductive outcomes of radiologic technologists. Flight attendants, too, are most often women, and CDC is studying a range of issues that might affect the health of women who spend much of their time on airplanes high above the earth, often working overnight schedules or crossing many time zones. Some research questions being addressed: What is the quality of the air flight attendants breathe in-flight? Are flight attendants at risk for breast or other cancer, especially from exposure to cosmic radiation? Does cosmic radiation alter their chromosomes or alter reproductive outcomes? How does disruption of circadian rhythm affect reproduction? A small sample of questions being addressed by other CDC studies now underway:
CDC celebrated its 30th anniversary this spring as a leader in federal research and prevention to protect the health and safety of working people and their families. The safer workplaces Americans work in today are in large part due to CDC’s work. Although work-related deaths have declined substantially in the past two decades, each day, 9,000 workers are disabled on the job, 17 workers die from workplace injury and 137 die from work-related diseases. For more information about workplace safety and health issues that affect women, call 800-356-4674 or visit www.cdc.gov/niosh/01-123.html. NORA Guides Research on the Workplace NORA™ — the National Occupational Research Agenda — guides the nation’s research in occupational safety and health. Four areas of special focus are work organization, traumatic injury, noise and hearing loss, and health-care workers. NORA programs are funding research into women’s health issues such as:
Learn more about NORA, including grant announcements and news, at www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/. Rape Prevention Grants Reauthorized A $45 million formula grant program administered by CDC assists states and territories in providing rape prevention and education programs through rape crisis centers, state sexual assault coalitions and public and private not-for-profits. CDC also supports state and coalition staffs with training and research. CDC estimates that more than 450,000 rapes occur each year in the United States. Girls under 18 years old suffer more than half of all first rapes - and half of those are perpetrated against girls younger than 12. For more about family and intimate violence prevention, visit www.cdc.gov/ncipc/. Leadership Conference to Reduce Violence and Injury in America
December 3-5, Atlanta The Changing Face of Women's Health
October-December 2001
February-April 2002
October 2002-December 2002
April-August 2003 The first national exhibit dedicated to women's health touches on issues women experience throughout different stages of life and helps visitors explore risk, prevention, detection and control. www.whealth.org/exhibit.
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